Juxtapose
by ShadowDanseur
Summary: Juxtapose: to place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. Set after All Things, Scully thinks about her choices.


**Author's Note: This is just a short little one shot set after the events of All Things. I love this episode and watched it again today; I am certain that this episode is where our favorite heroes finally crossed the line from friends to lovers. I have a lot of theories to back this up, not the least of which is the beginning scene where Scully is dressing in his bathroom. Anyway, this is just a little idea I had of how she was feeling that day and what could have lead to her finally making a choice and acting on it.**

**Spoilers: None really, but some references to the episode All Things.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Still on the top of my wishlist though. **

**_Juxtapose: To place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast._**

Many years ago, she had made the difficult decision to walk out of Daniel's life forever. Today, she had made that decision again. Walking out of that hospital, walking away from him again, she could feel that old wound in her heart tear open once more. She had thought it was gone, healed through in the years since she had left. Then she had seen his name on that X-ray, and time had stopped.

Scully had already been feeling disconnected and out of place; Daniel's presence only seemed to disrupt her life even more. He was a part of her past, and then to find out that he had followed her all the way to Washington and never contacted her. Talk about being thrown for a loop. What the hell was he thinking? And just how different would her life be to this day if she had chosen differently, chosen to stay for him and the life that she - they- could have had?

When she finally caught up with that strange woman, and it turned out to be Mulder, her world had been wildly distorted again. She felt completely off kilter and out of control, two feelings she was not overly fond of. Yet, seeing Mulder had grounded her. His presence seemed to offset Daniel's, the two acting like polar opposites and steadying her on her path.

Sitting on Mulder's couch, drinking tea, had soothed nerves she hadn't known were frayed. He was like a breath of fresh air. It had taken her a lot of soul searching to come to the conclusion that she wasn't the same woman Daniel remembered, that their lives had long ago taken different paths. She had told Daniel the truth when she'd said that she wanted everything she was supposed to want at this time in her life; she wasn't giving up on those things, she had just come to realize that just because she didn't have those things didn't mean her life was empty. She had a very full life, and seeing Mulder had reminded her of that. She may not be where she had expected to be in her life at this time, but that was no reason to mourn. A place for everything and everything in its place, her mother had used to say.

Sitting next to the man she had shared the last seven years of her life with, the truth and certainty she had been looking for was suddenly staring her in the face. Had there been any doubt in her mind at that moment, seeing the way Mulder looked at her now erased it all. She shared a bond with Mulder she could never have shared with Daniel; her trust and faith in Mulder was absolute. There was no guilt in her love for him, in their love for each other. They were free to pursue - or not pursue - a relationship as they pleased. She had opportunities with him she had never had before.

She had no recollection of falling asleep on his couch; one moment they had been having a serious conversation, and the next she had been waking up alone, still on his couch and covered with an afghan. After shaking off the initial haze of the dream state she'd been in, she glanced in the direction of Mulder's bedroom door. Once again, she seemed to be at a crossroads in her life, a fork in the road that led to two very different paths. Colleen's words floated back to her as if from another life: Everything happens for a reason.

For the second time in as many days, Dana Scully stood from the couch and made her way into Mulder's bedroom; the choice would forever change their lives.


End file.
